


Mediocre Pancakes

by mizukiakabayashis (kraykei)



Category: Free!
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2015-07-04
Packaged: 2018-04-07 13:56:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4265778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kraykei/pseuds/mizukiakabayashis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sousuke's never been a morning person, but things are a little different now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mediocre Pancakes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [magsuoka (harusunenthusiasticdancing)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=magsuoka+%28harusunenthusiasticdancing%29).



> this fic is for [maggie](http://magsuoka.tumblr.com/) who is personally responsible for dragging me even further down to rarepair hell. i'd never written seijuro before this fic but i had a fun time and gave it my all so i hope you enjoy this super fluffy piece (and that everyone else does, too). happy birthday!!
> 
> (also shoutout to [hannah](http://beardogs.tumblr.com/) for beta reading this for me<3)

For as long as he could remember, Sousuke had hated mornings.

Mornings meant stumbling around with heavy eyelids and slow reflexes, limbs heavy with the overwhelming need to climb into bed and _go the fuck back to sleep, ugh_.  High school had been hell. Having Rin as a roommate had only made it worse—his best friend was a natural morning person, and had usually finished his workout routine and shower before Sousuke had stopped hitting the snooze alarm. It was just plain annoying.

Scheduling only afternoon classes in college freed Sousuke from the hell of mornings, except on days he had checkups or physical therapy appointments.  Those mornings were the worst ones.  Waking up at 7 AM hurt enough without being forced to think about the persistent ache in his shoulder that meant his swimming career was over.

But it’d been a few years, now.  Sousuke would never swim again, not the way he wanted, but he could grab things off shelves without pain coursing through his body. There were no more appointments. It was enough.

High school was over. Physical therapy was over. Rin’s unnecessarily loud morning workout routine was—okay, he was probably still doing that, but he was thankfully doing it _somewhere else_.  There was nothing stopping Sousuke from sleeping as late as he wanted every single day.

Except, of course, for his boyfriend.

When Sousuke first ran into Seijuro Mikoshiba during his first semester at university, he never would’ve expected them to start _dating_. Seijuro was vibrant, exuberant to the point where Sousuke got tired just _looking_ at him sometimes, and possessed a seemingly endless amount of zeal for whatever life threw at him.  But Sousuke was…notthat.  When Seijuro laughed at something, Sousuke was probably rolling his eyes; when Seijuro suggested going out somewhere new, he usually wanted to stay home and nap. His first impression of the other man had been _loud_ quickly followed by _obnoxious_.  He never could have imagined them _working_ together.

But, with time, they did.  They balanced each other out, two contrasting personalities coming together to create something functional.  Sure, Rin called them a “disaster” every time he came over and saw the lack of organization in their shared apartment, but what did he know? They were _happy_.

If Sousuke was a big romantic idiot like Rin, he’d say that even mornings made him happy, now, as long as Seijuro was by his side—something disgusting like that. But no, mornings still sucked. The only difference was now he had a human alarm clock.

Which is why he wasn’t surprised to be woken up at 8 AM by his boyfriend being unnecessarily loud. “Sousuke!”

_Ugh_.  Why didn’t Seijuro have an indoor voice?  Sousuke responded by burying his face in his pillow with a muffled groan.

Seijuro was, of course, undeterred, sitting down beside Sousuke so suddenly it made the mattress bounce.  He was always like that, so boisterous that his moments of gentleness had surprised Sousuke at first.  But now he expected the hand that reached out to touch his bare back, fingers stroking slowly up his spine. He couldn’t help but melt into the touch, feeling himself start to drift again. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d fallen asleep like this…

Seijuro had to ruin the moment by _talkin_ g again.  “You gotta wake up, babe.” His hand continued its soothing path up past Sousuke’s neck to run through his hair.  “I made breakfast!”

Reluctantly, Sousuke turned his face just far enough out of the pillow to catch a glimpse of his boyfriend. He saw a wide grin and immediately closed his eyes again—how was he _like_ this so _early_? “Go away,” he grumbled, not caring if speaking into the pillow made his words nearly impossible to understand.

Seijuro just laughed. He’d stopped being discouraged by Sousuke’s morning rudeness years ago; actually, knowing him, he’d never been discouraged at all.  “I’m gonna finish the food, I want you up in five minutes!”  He accentuated his words with a quick pat on the back, reminding Sousuke of the countless overly-enthusiastic back slaps he’d received back before they were dating. Seijuro had never totally dropped the habit, which Sousuke thought was ridiculous. At least it wasn’t some embarrassing public display of affection.

With Seijuro gone again, Sousuke drifted comfortably somewhere between asleep and awake, letting his mind wander. Maybe he’d find mornings more romantic if Seijuro was ever _there_ when he first woke up.  His boyfriend wasn’t exactly an early riser, but didn’t spend a lot of time in bed. Instead, he was always up trying to cook or doing pushups or something else completely unnecessary. Why did anyone do anything before noon?

Sousuke rarely got the experience of waking up to the warm presence of Seijuro’s body beside his own, which just made him savor when it happened even more.  He’d never admit it, but he loved the heaviness of his boyfriend’s arm flung across his torso, the sight of his wild red hair untamed by gel.  Seijuro drooled in his sleep, which Sousuke made fun of (it was revenge for every time _he’d_ been embarrassed) even though, okay, it was actually kind of endearing.

God, maybe he _was_ turning into a big romantic idiot.  But waking up with Seijuro was…nice. 

Just imagining his boyfriend beside him lulled Sousuke into a more relaxed state, his breathing slowing to a steady rhythm as his surroundings slipped away.  In what could’ve been either thirty seconds or half an hour—Sousuke was too far gone to tell for sure—Seijuro was back.  And, unfortunately, on a mission.

“Sousuke,” he began, and immediately Sousuke recognized his boyfriend’s most annoying voice, the one he used when he _wanted_ something, “it’s time to get up!”

Sousuke’s response was immediate and completely on instinct.  “No.”                                               

“Sousuke.” He didn’t have to see Seijuro to know he was making that face that always reminded Sousuke of a huge, sad puppy. He refused to let it work on him.

“No.”

“ _Sousuke_.”

Sousuke was about to fire back with another refusal (he never claimed to be above a petty argument), but he’d woken up enough to have a better idea. He rolled over onto his back, opening his eyes to see that, yep, Seijuro was making the stupid puppy face.  “Lie down with me.”

Seijuro shot him a grin, raising his eyebrows exaggeratedly. “Sure, but won’t the food get cold?”

Sousuke couldn’t resist rolling his eyes. “ _Just_ to lie down. For a minute.”

Seijuro’s grin didn’t fade as he climbed into bed to lie down next to him, close to his side even though there was plenty of room. “I know, I know. You just want to sleep more, right?”

“Yeah,” Sousuke said, closing his eyes to do just that.

There was a time that the idea of being _relaxed_ by his boyfriend jumping into bed with him would’ve seemed laughable, but in that moment Seijuro’s sudden presence beside him didn’t ignite any urge other than an insatiable desire to scoot closer and share in the warmth of his body heat.  Which he did, enjoying the way an arm automatically found its way around his waist to pull him even closer. 

When exactly had this happened?  Seijuro was still as annoyingly attractive as when they’d first met, and Sousuke was still more than eager to put his hands all over his well-formed body because, seriously, those extra pushups _paid off_. 

But other times, like right now, he was content just _being_ with Seijuro, lying beside him with their limbs intertwined, so close Sousuke could feel the rumble of his laughter when he told a joke no one else thought was funny.

God. He was in deep, wasn’t he?

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Seijuro’s voice.  “You thinking too much again?” He said it like it was a joke, but they both knew he was only half kidding—he’d seen what happened when Sousuke _really_ thought too much, got too wrapped up in past failures to consider the present.

But it wasn’t like that today—if anything, it was the opposite.  Sousuke didn’t want to be anywhere else.

There was _no_ way he’d say something so embarrassing out loud, so he just said, “Not really.” Even if he was _kind of_ a romantic idiot, that didn’t mean anyone had to _know_ about it.

But judging by the way Seijuro grinned at him, Sousuke had a feeling the secret was already out.  “Good,” he said, leaning in and pressing a sloppy kiss to Sousuke’s cheek, earning the usual annoyed noise in response. Despite his complaints, they both knew Sousuke secretly enjoyed those little moments. He never pulled away, after all.

And sometimes, like now, he couldn’t completely stop an answering smile from spreading across his face.

“You’re cute,” Seijuro said, apparently unable to resist ruining the moment with an embarrassing line.  Sousuke resented the way something so simple made his face burn. “You still have to get up, though.”

Sousuke’s answering groan of complaint went ignored as Seijuro sat up, his energy only heightened by the moment of rest, and held out a hand to help Sousuke join him.  He took it with only slight reluctance, letting his boyfriend guide him all the way out of bed and towards the kitchen.

The aroma in the kitchen proved surprisingly pleasant. Sousuke couldn’t help but ask, “You finally stopped burning pancakes every time you make them?”

Seijuro could’ve been offended, but he just laughed, the sound echoing in the small room.  He was too loud, too bright—he could’ve been too much to some people, but to Sousuke, he was like the sun on an ideal summer day.  Comfortable even in its intensity.  _Perfect._   

Seijuro let go of Sousuke’s hand finally to take a seat at his side of the table.  “I stopped doing that months ago! Now come on, let’s eat.”

Sousuke sat down across from him, used to the way their legs brushed together under their too-small kitchen table.  They ate in silence, the quiet broken only by Seijuro’s occasional comments of _they’re good, huh? I told you they were good!_ After long enough he admitted that, okay, fine, his boyfriend had made decent pancakes after all, earning him yet another wide smile. Ridiculous.

Sousuke still hated mornings. He probably always would—there was no magic fix to give him the kind of dedication needed to wake up smiling at the sunrise.  But sitting across from the man he loved, eating his mediocre pancakes and seeing the way Seijuro looked at him like he was the best thing he’d ever laid eyes on—well.

As long as his mornings were like this, Sousuke could live with them.


End file.
